Yeah, It Is Pretty Great
It’s hard for any site as famous as The Great Wall to live up to its reputation. But I have to admit, it is great. Truly impressive. But then I suppose you can get a lot done with slave and prisoner labor.
We considered many alternatives for visiting China’s leading tourist attraction. Should we do the “shopping” trip to the Wall at Badaling or perhaps the eight kilometer hike along a section that has not been reconstructed?
Ultimately we decided to take the advice of our friend Ian Pilbeam. We hired a taxi to take us to the Great Wall at Mutianyu.
Good call, Ian.
We hiked along a beautifully restored stretch of the Great Wall while avoiding the Jade Factory tour that was part of the organized outing to the more touristy Badaling section.
As a special bonus, we got to ride a luge from the top of The Wall down a one-mile track, back to the parking area.
For the record, The Wall never did perform its function as an inpenetratable line of defense.
Genghis Khan explained: “The strength of a wall depends on the courage of those who defend it.”
7 comments
interesting quote by genghis
Still one for my list. Sounds like you picked a much better spot than the over-touristed Badaling section. A Jade tour … please.
oh that photo at the end is adorable! sounds like you had lots of fun. Will keep the recommendation for Mutianyu and the taxi in mind.
This is the section of the wall that we visited last year, and it was amazing. Far less crowded than the section at Badaling. When you did the luge, did you see the 1 yuan insurance that you could buy? We thought that was pretty funny…
I had no idea Genghis Khan was such a word smith. That luge ride sounds like it was something else as well. Your pictures as always are fantastic!!!
U-Dad did a solo trip to China in 1989 and has been fascinated with it ever since. I’m looking forward to showing him these posts!
We got ambushed by the costumed men at the end too!